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At the Dollywood Opryland Press Conference
I didn’t want to day to end before I share some important life lessons learned from an impromptu press conference today. While my day started out with a mini-breakdown & crying spell, it ended with a press conference and photo opp with Dolly Parton! If I had known what I was getting into when I left the house today, I might have done a few things differently. In retrospect, here are the things I learned and wanted to pass on that I’ll take with me from today’s experiences:
1. Dress to Impress
You never know who you’re going to meet when you leave the house. It seems like the days I wear my pajamas to drive the kids to school, thinking I’ll never get out of my van, are the exact days I need to drop off something or end up meeting someone. Case in point – I had to run out of the house today and barely got a brush through my hair, much less make up on. I ended up having to go to the radio station, record two videos and get photographed with Dolly Parton. Safe to say, I’ll rethink my morning routine from this point forward…
2. Fully Charge your Electronic Devices
Being a frugal girl, I can’t stand leaving things plugged in all night long. That being said, I usually leave the house with just enough juice in my phone so that it doesn’t die on the way to school and I figure I’ll charge it up when I get home. The problem lies when it’s a day like today, and I never get to return home, much less end up at a press conference at the Grand Ole Opry that I need to use my phone to both shoot pictures and video with. Charge. Charge. Charge away!
3. Include Your Spouse
This press conference was such a well kept secret, that most of us didn’t receive an invite until the day before. When I showed the email to my husband, he mentioned wanting to join me. Because we do so much as a family at Opryland, he often accompanies me on their press conferences (plus I make him man the video camera 😉 I didn’t think it was that big a deal, but this time he really seemed set on coming with me. While sometimes it can be very easy for me to separate my blogging life from my family life, I appreciate any time Ricky wants to jump in the mix with me, and today told me to trust my instincts…and listen to my husband more!
4. Make Your Passion Work
Two things were obvious to me more than anything else about Dolly Parton today: She loves what she does and she recognizes what her strong points are (and what she needs to leave in the hands of others). Dolly is a VERY passionate and talented individual who loves who she is, what she does and where she lives. There is no mistaking it! She was quick to speak when she felt comfortable and she was equally quick to step aside and put someone else in the spotlight to showcase their strengths. When you make your passion your work, your work becomes less of a job and more of an extension of your everyday life. I strive to live this way every day.
I realize some of these are more serious than others, but still equally important nonetheless.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar circumstance when you least expected it? How did you handle it? What did you learn as a result?
